JP6527755B2 - Single lever tap - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a single lever faucet in which water discharge and water stop are performed by a single lever handle.

A single lever tap of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat.
As shown in FIGS. 6A to 6C, the single lever faucet of Patent Document 1 is provided with a lever 101 and a lever handle 102 connected to the lever 101 and operated by the user. It is done. Then, the lever handle 102 is operated to execute water spouting. An elongated hole 110 is formed in the lever 101, and an engagement pin 104 is inserted into the elongated hole 110 so as to be movable up and down. Both ends of the engagement pin 104 are in contact with the arc-shaped sliding surface 105 on the faucet body 111 side by the elastic force of the spring 106.

  For this reason, frictional resistance between the engagement pin 104 and the sliding surface 105 is generated based on the elastic force of the spring 106. This is intended to provide a suitable resistance to the operation of the lever handle 102, suppress rattling of the lever handle 102, and provide a high-level operation feeling. In addition, when the lever handle 102 shifts between the fully open position and the intermediate position in the water discharge state, the engagement pin 104 rides over the projection 107 on the sliding surface 105. This makes it possible for the operator to recognize the water discharge amount.

JP, 2002-106005, A

  In the single lever faucet of Patent Document 1, a hole 103 for a spring 106 is bored downward from the upper end surface of the lever 101 in the lever 101, and the spring 106 is inserted therein. Then, the set screw 109 is screwed into the female screw 108 formed at the upper end of the hole 103, and the spring 106 is prevented from coming out of the hole 103.

  Therefore, in the single lever faucet of Patent Document 1, after the lever 101 is processed, the hole 103 for the spring 106 is bored, the female screw 108 is screwed to the inner peripheral surface of the hole 103, and the set screw 109 for the female screw 108. Screwing of the lever 101 is required, and it takes time to manufacture and assemble the lever 101. Moreover, since the set screw 109 is required, the number of parts is increased and the structure is complicated.

  Moreover, it is difficult to make a hole with a large diameter as the hole 103. For this reason, the spring 106 with a small diameter is used. Therefore, the selection width of the spring 106 is narrowed, the spring having a required spring constant can not be used, and the operation feeling of the lever handle may be lowered.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a single lever faucet that can simplify the configuration and provide high-level operation feeling.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, in a single lever faucet in which a valve body is operated via a lever by operating a lever handle, the lever is formed to have a rectangular cross section. And an accommodation hole is formed between both side surfaces of the lever, and in the accommodation hole, an engaging pin is movable in the longitudinal direction of the lever in a state where both ends thereof project from both sides of the lever A spring is provided for accommodating and providing an elastic force in a direction toward a sliding surface formed on the faucet body with respect to the engagement pin in the accommodation hole, and the coil is a rectangular cylindrical coil. It is characterized by being constituted by a spring.

  According to the above configuration, a set screw for stopping the coil spring is not required and the structure is simplified, and a receiving hole for the coil spring is formed in the lever, or a female screw for the set screw is formed. Manufacturing is simplified because it is not necessary to Further, since the coil spring can be accommodated in a wide accommodation hole formed between both side surfaces of the lever, the restriction of the size of the winding diameter as the coil spring is reduced. For this reason, the choice of the spring constant of a coil spring spreads, and it becomes possible to obtain a high-level operation feeling.

  According to the single lever faucet of the present invention, the configuration is simple, and an effect of obtaining a high-level operation feeling is exhibited.

Cross section of a single lever faucet. The partially cut disassembled perspective view of the single lever faucet of FIG. The disassembled perspective view which shows the internal structure of a cartridge case, and components related to a lever. Side view of the lever. 5-5 sectional drawing of FIG. (A)-(c) are the longitudinal cross-sectional view, side view, and cross-sectional view which show a prior art example.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a single lever faucet embodying the present invention will be described according to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cartridge case 15 is installed in a cover 10 fixed to the main body 11 of the single lever faucet of this embodiment. A fixed valve body 21 and a movable valve body 22 movable on the upper surface of the fixed valve body 21 are accommodated in the cartridge case 15.

  A lid member 30 is fixed to the upper surface of the movable valve body 22. A pivot support 31 having a mounting groove 311 is provided on the upper portion of the cartridge case 15 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane centering on a central axis of the cartridge case 15.

  A lever 32 is rotatably supported in a vertical plane via a support shaft 33 in a guide groove 36 formed in the shaft support 31. The lower end of the lever 32 is inserted into and connected to the connecting portion 301 on the upper surface of the lid member 30. A lever handle 34 is fixed to the upper end of the lever 32. Therefore, the lever 32 and the lever handle 34 can be rotated in the vertical direction about the support shaft 33, and can be rotated in the horizontal direction in the horizontal plane about the central axis of the cartridge case 15 together with the shaft support 31. It is possible. Therefore, by the operation of the lever handle 34, the movable valve body 22 is moved on the fixed valve body 21 back and forth and right and left via the lever 32 and the lid member 30, and is rotated.

  Then, the lever handle 34 is rotated in the left-right direction, whereby the movable valve body 22 is rotated via the lever 32. As a result, the positional relationship between the water supply holes 23 and the hot water supply holes 24 of the fixed valve body 21 and the communication holes 26 of the movable valve body 22 located between the water discharge holes 25 changes, and the water supply passage 12 of the faucet body 11 is changed. The communication relationship between the hot water supply passage 13 and the water discharge passage 14 is adjusted. For this reason, water, hot water or mixed water of hot water is discharged from the water discharge pipe 20 through the water discharge passage 14. In addition, the movable valve body 22 is moved linearly in the horizontal plane by the lever handle 34 being rotated in the above direction. As a result, the communication range of the communication hole 26 of the movable valve 22 to the water supply hole 23 and the hot water supply hole 24 of the fixed valve 21 changes, and the discharge amount of water, hot water or mixed water of water and hot water is adjusted. .

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a lever guide 35 is rotatably provided on the upper end of the cartridge case 15 in a horizontal plane. The lever guide 35 is formed with a guide groove 36 for the lever 32 to project upward. The lever guide 35 is rotated with the lever 32 in the horizontal plane. An arc-shaped sliding surface 37 is formed on the upper surface on both sides of the guide groove 36, and a projection 38 is formed on the sliding surface 37, and a wall-like shape is formed on the outer peripheral portion on both sides of the sliding surface 37. A restricting portion 39 is formed.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the lever 32 is formed into a substantially rectangular prism as a whole by being sintered in stainless steel and having a rectangular cross-section having flats in the front, rear, left, and right.
A vertically extending receiving hole 40 is provided between the left and right sides of the lever 32. A narrow pin housing portion 401 is formed in the lower portion of the housing hole 40, and the lower end of the pin housing portion 401 is formed in a semicircular arc shape. A spring receiving portion 402 is formed in the upper portion of the receiving hole 40 so as to be continuous with the upper end of the pin receiving portion 401. The upper end inner side surface of the spring receiving portion 402 has a rectangular shape similar to the lever 32 in cross section. The projections 403 are formed. Accordingly, the pin housing portion 401 and the spring housing portion 402 are opened at both left and right side surfaces of the lever 32.

  At a lower portion of the lever 32, an axial hole 44 through which the support shaft 33 passes is formed. Stoppers 45 are formed on the front and rear sides of the lever 32, and the contact between the stopper 45 and the shaft support 31 restricts the rotation range of the lever 32 about the support shaft 33.

As shown in FIG. 4, a chamfer 46 made of an inclined surface is formed on the outer peripheral edge of the lever 32, the outer peripheral edge of the protrusion 403, and the inner peripheral edge of the shaft hole 44.
The engaging pin 42 is inserted into the pin housing portion 401 so as to be movable up and down in the extension direction of the pin housing portion 401, and both end portions thereof are protruded to the outside, and the protruding portions are positioned on the sliding surface 37. . The length in the vertical direction of the pin housing portion 401 is equal to or larger than the diameter of the engagement pin 42.

  A coil spring 43 is accommodated in the spring accommodation portion 402, and the upper end thereof is externally fitted to the projection 403, and the lower end is in pressure contact with an engagement pin 42 located on the sliding surface 37. . The engagement pin 42 is in contact with the sliding surface 37 at an appropriate pressure by the coil spring 43.

  The coil spring 43 is formed in a rectangular tube shape of a flat rectangular as a whole. Then, the dimension of the long side 431 of the coil spring 43 (the dimension in the vertical direction in FIG. 5), that is, the winding diameter on the outer peripheral side is formed smaller than the thickness of the lever 32. It does not protrude outside. The long side 431 of the coil spring 43 is opposed to the inner side surface of the spring accommodating portion 402 so as to be in contact therewith.

In the above configuration, the lever 32 and the coil spring 43 are assembled as follows.
That is, when the coil spring 43 is assembled to the lever 32, the coil spring 43 is inserted into the spring accommodating portion 402 from the side opening of the spring accommodating portion 402 of the lever 32, and the upper end thereof is engaged with the projection 403 externally. . Further, in tandem with this, the engagement pin 42 is fitted in the pin housing portion 401. Then, the lever 32 is inserted into the guide groove 36 of the lever guide 35, and in this state, the lever 32 is assembled to the support 31 by the support shaft 33. In this way, the engagement pin 42 engages with the sliding surface 37 of the lever guide 35 and ascends in the pin housing portion 401 and is pressed against the lower end of the coil spring 43. In this state, the coil spring 43 can be prevented from coming off from the spring accommodating portion 402, and the elastic force of the coil spring 43 causes the engagement pin 42 to abut on the sliding surface 37 with an appropriate pressure.

  Then, as the lever handle 34 rotates in the vertical direction, the engagement pin 42 slides on the sliding surface 37 while being guided by the restricting portion 39 in a state where an appropriate frictional resistance is applied by the coil spring 43, You can get a sense of high-level operation without rattling. In addition, when the lever handle 34 passes between the maximum amount of water discharge position and the intermediate amount of water discharge position, the engagement pin 42 passes over the protrusion 38 to generate a click feeling, and the user discharges the amount of water Can recognize.

The above-described embodiment has the following effects.
(1) A spring accommodating portion 402 for accommodating the coil spring 43 is provided to penetrate between the left and right side surfaces of the lever 32. And, on the upper end of the spring accommodating portion 402, a projection 403 is formed to stop the coil spring 43 from coming off. Therefore, the spring accommodating portion 402 and the projection 403 for holding the coil spring 43 can be formed simultaneously with the processing of the lever 32 by the sintering mold of the lever 32. Therefore, unlike the configuration of Patent Document 1, the process of forming the spring accommodating portion 402 after processing the lever 32, forming a screw after forming, and attaching a set screw becomes unnecessary, and the manufacture is easy. become.

  (2) Since the winding diameter on the outer peripheral side of the coil spring 43 is smaller than the thickness of the lever 32, the coil spring 43 can be prevented from protruding outward from the side surface of the lever 32. Therefore, even if the housing hole 40 is opened to the side surface of the lever 32, the coil spring 43 and the lever guide 35 can be prevented from interfering with each other in assembling the lever handle 34 to the lever 32. Can be prevented from interfering with the assembly of the lever handle 34.

  (3) Since the coil spring 43 has a rectangular cylindrical shape, the outer side surface of the long side 431 of the coil spring 43 is disposed along the inner side surface of the spring accommodating portion 402. Therefore, the coil spring 43 is stably held in the spring accommodating portion 402.

  (4) Since the long side 431 of the coil spring 43 opposes the inner surface of the accommodation hole 40 so as to abut, buckling of the coil spring 43 can be suppressed, and the elastic force applied to the engagement pin 42 Fluctuations can be suppressed. Therefore, the lever handle 34 can always be moved smoothly.

  (5) Since the coil spring 43 has a rectangular cylindrical shape, the contact area between the coil spring 43 and the inner side surface of the accommodation hole 40 can be increased. Therefore, the above-mentioned buckling prevention can be achieved more effectively.

  (6) The accommodation hole 40 is formed to be wide through the width direction of the lever 32. Therefore, as the coil spring 43, not only one having a small winding diameter but also one having a large winding diameter can be used. It can be used. Therefore, the coil spring 43 can be used with either strong or weak elastic force. Therefore, by selecting the coil spring 43 having an appropriate elastic force, it is possible to obtain high-level operation feeling of the lever handle 34.

  (7) Since the chamfered portions 46 are provided on the corner portions of the lever 32 and the projection 403, chipping of the corner portions can be prevented. Moreover, since the chamfer 46 is processed at the opening edge of the accommodation hole 40, the coil spring 43 can be smoothly inserted into the accommodation hole 40, and the assembly of the coil spring 43 becomes easy.

(Modification example)
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be embodied in the following modes.
Processing the lever 32 not by sintering but by cutting.

Forming the lever 32 in a circular shape in cross section, that is, in a cylindrical shape as a whole.
Forming the chamfer 46 of the lever 32 by an arc surface.
Make the winding diameter (width) of the coil spring 43 the same as the width of the accommodation hole 40 of the lever 32 in the penetrating direction.

(Other technical ideas)
The technical idea grasped from the above-mentioned embodiment is as follows.
(A) A lever mechanism located between the lever handle and the movable valve body,
A lever through which an accommodation hole is provided between both side surfaces,
A pin accommodated in the accommodation hole and movable in the extension direction of the accommodation hole in a state in which both end portions protrude from both side surfaces of the lever;
A coil spring housed in the housing hole for applying an elastic force to the pin;
The lever mechanism which comprised the said spring by the rectangular cylindrical coil spring.

With this configuration, the same effect as that of the above embodiment can be obtained.
(B) The single lever faucet according to the technical concept (A), wherein the lever is interposed between the movable valve body and the lever handle.

  11: Water faucet body, 21: fixed valve body, 22: movable valve body, 32: lever, 34: lever handle, 37: sliding surface, 40: housing hole, 42: engagement pin, 43: coil spring, 46 ... Chamfering, 401 ... pin housing part, 402 ... spring housing part, 403 ... projection.

Claims (6)

In a single lever faucet in which the valve body is operated via the lever by operating the lever handle,
The lever is formed in a square in cross section, and a receiving hole is formed between both side surfaces of the lever, and the engaging pin is inserted into the receiving hole in a state in which both end portions protrude from both side surfaces of the lever There is provided a spring movably accommodated in the longitudinal direction, and a spring for applying an elastic force in a direction toward a sliding surface formed in the faucet body to the engagement pin in the accommodation hole, The spring is constituted by a rectangular cylindrical coil spring ,
The housing hole is constituted by a pin housing portion for supporting the engagement pin, and a spring housing portion formed to be wider than the pin housing portion, and the coil is mounted when the engagement pin is on the sliding surface. Single lever faucet designed to receive the spring force .   The single lever faucet according to claim 1, wherein the receiving hole is extended in the length direction of the lever, and a protrusion is provided at an end of the inner surface of the receiving hole, and one end of a spring is engaged with the protrusion. The single lever faucet according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein a width of the coil spring is equal to or smaller than a width of the lever. The single lever faucet as described in any one of Claims 1-3 which made the said coil spring contact | abut on the inner surface of the said spring accommodating part. The single lever faucet as described in any one of Claims 1-4 which comprised the said lever by sintering process. The single lever faucet as described in any one of Claims 1-5 which chamfered the periphery of the said accommodation hole.